Job 40:23 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

He drinketh up; or, he snatcheth, or draweth, or drinketh up as it were with force and violence, as the word signifies. A river, i.e. a great quantity of water, hyperbolically called a river, as it is also Psalms 78:16, Psalms 105:41. This may be fitly applied to the elephant, which because of its great bulk and vehement thirst drinks a great deal of water at one draught, as naturalists and historians have observed. Hasteth not; he drinks not with fear and caution, and sparingly, as the dogs do at Nilus, for fear of the crocodile; but such is his courage and self-confidence, that he fears no enemy, either by water or by land, but drinketh securely and liberally. He trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth; he drinks as if he designed, or hoped, or desired to drink up the whole river. He mentions Jordan, either as a river well known in and nigh unto Job's land; or because possibly there were many elephants which used to drink at it; or as a river in some parts of it but small, which therefore might give more colour to the hyperbole, and to the elephant's fancy or expectation, than a vaster river, such as Euphrates, would have done. Bochart expounds this also of the hippopotamus, which though he cannot swim, and may be drowned, as naturalists report, yet will continue securely under water at the bottom of Nilus for some days together; and he renders the verse thus, Behold, if a river oppress or cover him, he fears not; he is confident or secure, though Jordan (which is here put for any river) should break forth or overflow above his mouth, i.e. should overwhelm him. But the judgment of this I leave to the reader.